The second option, Spanish, has a few special benefits of its own. It’s the second most spoken language on the planet, and there are many native speakers of the language right here in the U.S., making it a pretty valuable skill on your home turf. Spanish is also considered to be much easier to learn than Mandarin, especially if the goal is fluency, so it’s the more practical choice.

Of course, this is only one person’s take, and your needs may call for something else entirely. If you’re doing regular business in Germany, for example, learning Mandarin probably isn’t the best use of your time. That said, it’s some interesting food for thought if you’re not sure what to learn and simply trying to maximize your career potential with a single language skill.